Line #103 Main/MidasTouch


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4	[[quoteright:300:[[WesternAnimation/TheGoldenTouch https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tgt_4039.jpg]]]] [[caption-width-right:300:ConspicuousConsumption has never been so literal.]]
5
6	A character is given a [[TheMagicTouch special ability so that everything they touch]] turns into a certain substance of superficial value to the character that gets it, such as gold or candy. However, that character soon [[DeconstructedTrope finds out]] that this ability is actually undesirable. At the very least, the side effects of their ability are just plain annoying, but at worst, something [[GoneHorriblyWrong Goes Horribly Wrong]] with this new ability and they have to reverse it. [[AnAesop The lesson]] is often that {{Greed}} is bad.
7
8	This power can turn a person or creature into BrownNoteBeing, if the touch is harmful.
9
10	Subtrope of TheMagicTouch, MadeOGold, and BlessedWithSuck. Compare MagicalCounterfeiting, TouchOfDeath.
11
12	----
13	!!Examples:
14
15	[[foldercontrol]]
16
17	[[folder:Advertising]]
18	* In a Creator/ChuckECheese commercial during the Avenger era, Chuck E. shows his "Chuck Touch" which involves turning anything he comes into contact with into something fun.
19	* UsefulNotes/McDonalds and [[https://youtu.be/nv3y4ceOn1Q The Hamburglar Touch]], in which Hamburglar can turn anything he touches into a burger. It all goes well for him at first, until [[ThisIsGonnaSuck he touches his face]]! Thankfully, it's all just an ImagineSpot.
20	* ''Advertising/{{Skittles}}'': A man in "Touch the Rainbow" has a hands-only touch that turns objects into piles of the rainbow candy. He is unwaveringly clear about the fact that it makes his life hell.
21	* In an ad for Meineke Car Care Center, the known as Meineke Muffler, while advertising their low prices, a woman's voice (from a nearby competitor) can be heard exclaiming, "How much? I don't want a muffler made of real gold!!:
22	[[/folder]]
23
24	[[folder:Comic Books]]
25	* ''ComicBook/ArtOps'': When recruiting Juliet into the Art Ops, [[{{Superhero}} The Body]] decides to grand her an ability to help her in combatting rogue artworks. She's initially excited... until finding out it's the ability to turn anything she touches into velvet.
26	-->'''Juliet:''' You're kidding me, right? The '''Ink Spot''' gave me the power of drapery?
27	* In the ComicBook/DisneyDucksComicUniverse, the reason Magica De Spell is after Scrooge's NumberOneDime is that it's the final ingredient for a spell to obtain it. Magica being far smarter than most people on this list, the Touch would be the effect of a removable charm, neatly bypassing the usual downside - that, upon believing she had found an adequate substitute, she tried to ''weaponize'' in ''The Treasury of Croesus'' by shaking hands with Donald as soon as she had completed and put on the charm.
28	* The comic book series ''The Midas Flesh'' carries this to an extreme level. Not only does anything Midas touch turn to gold, but anything that touches something he is touching turns to gold as well. This causes him to suffocate when the air in his lungs turns to gold, but his body continues to affect everything, slowly turning the entire world, even the atmosphere, into gold. Then a few thousand years later, aliens show up, figure out how the "touch" works, and try to use parts of his body as a weapon.
29	* In ''ComicBook/{{Shazam}} Volume 1 Issue 12'', Doctor Kilowatt demonstrates a ray that can turn any object into gold. Unfortunately, due to a miscalculation, every object that is turned into gold has the Midas Touch, meaning anything touching it turns into gold as well. Fortunately, Captain Marvel comes up with a solution by crushing all the transformed objects into a tiny nugget and wrapping the nugget in gold foil made from Dr. Kilowatt's fillings, thus rendering the Midas gold harmless, since it can't transform natural gold.
30	[[/folder]]
31
32	[[folder:Fan Works]]
33	* ''Fanfic/EverythingTurnsToGold'': Scott occasionally turns random things to gold just by touching them, including a blanket, his sword, and the rope used to tie up his hands. Unfortunately, this ability also carries over to [[TakenForGranite his own body]] [[spoiler:and those of his friends, but turns out to be ''incredibly'' effective against those under Exor's control, like Xornoth]]. To note, the fic is TitledAfterTheSong "Gold" by Music/ImagineDragons (see the Music folder below).
34	[[/folder]]
35
36	[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
37	* In Disney's ''WesternAnimation/AladdinAndTheKingOfThieves'', the band of thieves is after a [[{{MacGuffin}} legendary artifact]], the "Hand of Midas" which can turn things to gold. The BigBad Sa'luk is turned to gold when Aladdin's father tosses the artifact to him and he foolishly catches it barehanded. When escaping the ruins, he is also forced to leave behind his turned-to-gold cape because the weight was slowing him down. Eventually, he decides the hand was not the ultimate treasure he truly wanted, and throws it into the ocean...but not before it lands in the boat of the other thieves first, turning it to gold and causing it to sink. Fortunately, it does not affect water.
38	* The page image is from ''WesternAnimation/TheGoldenTouch''; an early Walt Disney film (directed by the man himself) retelling the traditional King Midas fable.
39	* ''WesternAnimation/PussInBootsTheLastWish'': Jack Horner, a collector of fable-based magical artifacts, has a Midas finger among the other goodies in his collection. When he promises a pair of mercenaries payment worth its weight in gold, he means that ''[[ExactWords literally]]''.
40	[[/folder]]
41
42	[[folder:Films -- Live Action]]
43	* ''Film/Aladdin2019'' A deleted scene has the Genie explain that one of his previous masters wished for this. Unfortunately, in their excitement, they rub their hands together, [[HoistByHisOwnPetard causing them to be turned to gold themselves]]!
44	* In ''Film/MuppetClassicTheater'' Kermit plays King Midas and Miss Piggy rushes him into wishing for a golden touch, but when he realizes he can't eat anymore he accidentally turns himself to gold in frustration.
45	[[/folder]]
46
47	[[folder:Jokes]]
48	* A car mechanic receives the Midas Touch. Now everything he touches turns into a muffler.[[note]]For those who don't know, Midas is a company that operates automotive service centers.[[/note]]
49	* King Midas and Medusa goes on a date. Her gaze turns him into stone and his touch turns her into gold. It was a very brief affair.
50	[[/folder]]
51
52	[[folder:Literature]]
53	* ''Literature/TheChocolateTouch'' is a story about a boy who loves chocolate more than anything, and receives an enchantment so that everything which touches his lips or mouth turns to chocolate. He quickly becomes sick of chocolate, then sick in general and a laughingstock at school. Things get worse when he kisses his mother...
54	* In Creator/CSLewis's ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfNarnia: Literature/TheVoyageOfTheDawnTreader'', the heroes' voyage takes them to a Midas ''Location'' -- Deathwater Isle, which contains a magical pool that transforms things to gold. At the bottom of the pool is the golden statue of the poor soul who dove into it, thinking it was ordinary water.
55	* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'':
56	** ''Literature/LordsAndLadies'' has the Lancre Morris Men discuss the legend.[[note]]A more conventional version than the dyslexic variant mentioned in ''Literature/WitchesAbroad''.[[/note]] When the one of them asks how the king went to the lavatory, the others say that's the point; you could be holding a fortune in your hands and have nothing to spend it on.
57	** An ancient Klatchian ruler was once cursed by a dyslexic deity - instead of making it so that everything he touched was turned into gold, the ruler was cursed to turn everything he touched into ''Glod'', which turned out to be a bad-tempered dwarf whose temper was ''not'' helped by being summoned to the Disc's equivalent of Arabia and magically duplicated a few thousand times. To this day, "Glod Glodsson" is a very common name among the Disc's dwarves.
58	[[/folder]]
59
60	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
61	* ''Series/BassieEnAdriaan'': In "De Verzonken Stad", which is set in Greece, Bassie hears about the legend of King Midas, and proceeds to have one of his daydreams in which he imagines himself as the king (though in a modern day setting). At first he enjoys his ability to turn everything to gold, until he finds out that it prevents him from eating anymore [[TrademarkFavoriteFood cream pies]] (they too turn to gold the moment he touches them). And to make the nightmare complete, he accidentally turns Adriaan to gold as well.
62	* In one episode of ''Series/MysteryHunters'', Christina investigates whether King Midas' suppose ability to turn everything he touched into gold was true.
63	* In the first-season finale of ''Series/{{Trust}}'', Fletcher Chace recounts the story of King Midas as he discusses the upheaval in J. Paul Getty's life following the failed opening of his museum. Having alienated much of his family with his stingy behavior, disowned his grandson (the only person who still looked up to him), and wrecked his reputation as a connoisseur of the arts with his gaudy museum, Getty finds himself still one of the richest men in the world, but also incredibly isolated.
64	* ''Series/HerculesTheLegendaryJourneys'' used the Midas story as the backstory for "All That Glitters" when Hercules pays his old friend a visit. We're told that (much like the myth) Midas was excessively greedy and eventually obtained this ability, but Hercules helped him undo it when it got out of hand and taught him a lesson about greed. In the episode proper, Hercules worries Midas has lapsed into old habits by opening a casino (dubbed The Golden Touch, of course) and reminds him what happened before, but the kingdom has actually fallen on hard times and been taken advantage of by villains of the week.
65	-->'''Salmoneus:''' I bet people travel from far and wide to shake the hand of the man with the Golden Touch!\
66	'''Midas:''' Ex-Golden Touch.\
67	'''Salmoneus:''' I'm so sorry about your loss.\
68	'''Midas:''' No, don't be. If I still had it, you'd be a golden statue!
69	* ''Series/{{Wishbone}}'' adapted the story in the episode "[[Recap/WishboneS1E36TheEntrepawneur The Entrepawneur]]," but turned Midas into an AdaptationalNiceGuy by realizing what he did after accidentally turning a servant into gold when the latter was trying to feed him grapes. He starts praying to the gods, but it's not until his wife and daughter are turned as well that the gods take mercy and give him a solution.
70	* ''Series/HeyYouWhatIf'': "Everything You Touched Turned to Gold?" shows what would happen if this literally was the case. Needless to say, the downs considerably outweigh the ups.
71	* ''Series/TheFairlyOddParentsFairlyOdder'': In the trailer, Roy wishes that everything he touches would turn to gold. [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor This backfires]] when he attempts to high-five his mom and turns her into a gold statue.
72	* On ''Series/{{Haven}},'' the former ClassPrincess of Nathan and Duke's high school has a [[DifferentlyPoweredIndividual Trouble]] that turns everything she eats into cake. She is now overweight, much to the [[IWasQuiteALooker surprise]] of her classmates.
73	[[/folder]]
74
75	[[folder:Music]]
76	* Discussed in the the Music/ImagineDragons song "Gold", which is about how the blessings of fame are actually curses.
77	-->''When everything, everything\
78	Everything you touch turns to gold, gold, gold''
79	* Also discussed in Florence And The Machine's song "Rabbit Heart", which is about the dangers of fame in the music industry.
80	-->''Midas is king and he holds me so tight\
81	And turns me to gold in the sunlight''
82	* Music/{{Switchfoot}}'s song [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vw3HQUYgCsY "Faust, Midas, and Myself"]] combines this trope with DealWithTheDevil. The singer dreams about meeting a old man with "a crooked smile" who offers him, "You could have your pick of pretty things." The singer wakes up as a golden man, in a world completely made of gold, and quickly comes to hate it. Eventually he wakes up for real, back in the normal world, with a greater appreciation for his routine life of before.
83	-->''As my reflection passed\
84	I hated what I saw\
85	My golden eyes were dead\
86	And a thought passed through my head\
87	A heart that's made of gold can't really beat at all''
88	[[/folder]]
89
90	[[folder:Myths & Religion]]
91	* Myth/ClassicalMythology: The myth of King Midas is the TropeCodifier. Midas is obsessed with gold but is nonetheless a [[SacredHospitality good host]]. When he hosts Silenus, the foster father of Dionysus, the god of wine, Dionysus himself grants Midas a boon, and Midas asks for the ability to turn everything he touches into gold (some versions of the story go so far as to have Dionysus warn Midas that his wish is probably a bad idea). However, he finds eating and drinking is nearly impossible with this ability (in later versions written after the fall of UsefulNotes/AncientGreece [[AesopCollateralDamage he turns his daughter into gold after hugging her]]). Dionysus instructs Midas to wash his hands or anything he turned to gold in the Pactolus river to reverse it, which transferred the ability to the river and caused its sands to turn gold, [[JustSoStory thus explaining why the Pactolus river had a lot of electrum (a natural alloy of gold and silver) in it in preceding centuries]]. In some versions, Midas actually kidnapped Silenus and the touch was implicitly or explicitly a curse.
92	[[/folder]]
93
94	[[folder:Tabletop Game]]
95	* ''TabletopGame/ResArcana'': The Ring of Midas is a nod to the Midas touch -- it can be turned to make gold, but also references the downside of Midas's power with its ability to turn ''life essences'' into gold.
96	[[/folder]]
97
98	[[folder:Video Games]]
99	* ''Videogame/Afterlife1996:'' A variation of this is used as an Avarice punishment: "Jerky City", where everything any of the souls touches immediately turns into processed meats. The most valuable objects are those that one one's yet touched, but given these are Avaricious souls this never really lasts. Plus, this being Hell and thus being hot all the time, the smell is ''horrible''.
100	* In ''VideoGame/{{Balatro}}'', the Midas Mask turns every scoring face card into gold cards, which each give you $3 if they're kept at the end of the round.
101	* ''VideoGame/TheBindingOfIsaac'':
102	** The aptly named Midas Touch causes any enemies the player touches (even bosses!) to turn to gold, freezing them in place and causing them to drop coins when they die, as well as [[spoiler: negating most of the damage scaling on Ultra Greed, allowing the player to kill them much easier.]]
103	** [[spoiler: [[OptionalBoss Ultra Greedier]], being a statue made of gold, turns the entire boss room into gold when he dies.]]
104	* ''VideoGame/GodOfWarGhostOfSparta'' references the fable with one level where King Midas is a minor PuzzleBoss wandering alone in the mountains, driven to complete and oblivious insanity after having turned his only daughter to gold. The player is required to use Midas's ability to cross a river of lava without getting turned to gold in the process.
105	* Referenced in the first ''VideoGame/TombRaiderI'' game in "Palace Midas", where turning bars of lead into gold is the level's central puzzle. Although the game doesn't allow the player to [[CombinatorialExplosion turn other inventory items to gold]], they ''can'' [[SchmuckBait climb on top of Midas's hand]] and watch Lara herself be turned to gold. [[NonstandardGameOver Oops!]]
106	* In ''VideoGame/LeatherGoddessesOfPhobos'', King Mitre is under a curse that causes everything he touches to turn into a 45 degree angle.
107	* in ''Videogame/TheSims3'', the ''Supernatural'' expansion has an elixir called Midas Touch that either gives the drinker this power for a few hours, or - if thrown at someone - turns the target into a gold statue for a while.
108	* ''VideoGame/DragonQuestXI'' has a magical necklace that allows its wearer to turn anything into gold. [[spoiler:That includes themselves, which Erik's sister Mia found out the hard way after trying to take it off. Erik has been journeying to find a way to turn her back ever since.]]
109	* ''VideoGame/SuperheroLeagueOfHoboken'': One of the recruitable characters is a Midas-themed superhero. Unfortunately, he's not as young as he used to be, and his ability with the power is slipping. You can hand him useless items and have him transform them, but they never come out as gold. This is necessary to complete the game, as you need the muffler (as in scarf) he'll create after a few tries.
110	[[/folder]]
111
112	[[folder:Web Animation]]
113	* ''{{WebAnimation/Kurzgesagt}}'' has [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VB_GWz25B3Q a video]] examining what would happen if King Midas tripped and accidentally turned the entire Earth into gold. [[ApocalypseHow Everyone on Earth would die]], although how it happened would depend on [[MagicAIsMagicA the exact rules of his gold-transforming powers]]:
114	** If the Midas touch transforms individual atoms into gold, [[EarthShatteringKaboom Earth would become super-dense and explode]].
115	** If the Midas touch rearranged atoms into gold without adding any mass, then Earth would implode with enough speed for everyone to enter free-fall and splatter across its surface, then the resulting shockwave would convert the [[LudicrousGibs]] ample amounts of blood and gore [[DeaderThanDead into a white-hot plasma]]. This would make Earth glow brighter and hotter than the Sun for a short time before finally cooling down into a small, shiny sphere of pure gold.
116	** If the Midas touch completely replaces Earth with a solid gold replica, then surface gravity would grow 3.5 times stronger, and compression of the atmosphere would raise the air temperature. Anyone who doesn't get crushed would bake to death, and then the oceans would run over the land, creating indeed, a near-perfect gold replica of the Earth, but covered in perpetually boiling water.
117	* ''WebAnimation/ETUAnimatedStories'':
118	** Henry helps an old lady and she gives him a wish. He wishes that everything he touches turn into diamonds. At first it improves his life but soon discovers how unpleasant it is and uses gloves. He eventually accidentally turned his wife into a diamond. He regrets his wish and begs the old lady to reverse it but she couldn't do it.
119	[[/folder]]
120
121	[[folder:Web Comics]]
122	* Exaggerated in [[https://www.qwantz.com/index.php?comic=1355 this comic]] of ''Webcomic/DinosaurComics'', where Midas the dinosaur king gets the ability to transform everything he touches into gold. The planet he's standing on turns into gold, and then the air he breathes turns to gold, and the air molecules around him turn to gold.
123	** This concept would be used in ''The Midas Flesh'' (see the Comic Book listing), written by the webcomic's author.
124	* In ''Webcomic/{{Nukees}}'', Dionysus applies the Midas curse to Gav, which turns everything one touches into the thing they desire most. In Gav's case it's Guinness, which impresses the alcoholic god enough to rescind the curse.
125	* ''VideoGame/WarcraftIII'': The Goblin Alchemist's ultimate ability Transmute instakills a target enemy and gives the alchemist the unit's gold cost.
126	[[/folder]]
127
128	[[folder:Western Animation]]
129	* ''WesternAnimation/AdventuresFromTheBookOfVirtues'': One episode adapted this story when Zack got into a fight with his mother when she refused to buy him a game he wanted. In Plato the bison's version, Midas quickly realizes he made a mistake on seeing that he made his daughter Marigold cry on turning her flowers into gold. (He also left a caterpillar in AndIMustScream mode.) When he accidentally changes her, he runs to the gods and begs them to remove the curse, to save his daughter. Once he gets the water that is the curse, he changes the flowers and Marigold back, apologizing to her. Plato explains that he learned about the little things to appreciate, like a sunny day, roses to smell, and playtime with the one person you love.
130	* ''WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor'': "Operation C.H.O.C.O.L.A.T.E." features Henrich von Marzipan, who after falling into chocolate lava got turned into a chocolate monster that turns everything he touches into chocolate. This turned out bad for him when he got sick of chocolate and wanted a cheeseburger. Ironically, up until that point, Heinrich considered himself blessed, as he's basically characterized by his enormous SweetTooth.
131	* The series finale of ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales1987'' involves a cursed artifact called the "Golden Goose" which could turn anything to gold. Scrooge comes to his senses after the Beagle Boys steal it and turns his three nephews to gold, then races to return the duck to its hidden temple when the duck's curse starts spreading, [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt turning everyone and everything to gold]].
132	* In the ''WesternAnimation/Ducktales2017'' episode "New Gods on the Block!", the children use Zeus's laurel to prove they can become a god. Louie wishes to have the Midas Touch (or the "Louie Touch" as he calls it) to give people gold at the park, except he accidentally causes chaos turning people into gold and is disqualified for the mess he caused.
133	* ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'': In ''Fat Man and Robin'', a segment in ''Viewer Mail 2'', Peter is struck by lightning after being angered by a televised roast of Creator/RobinWilliams (and apparently not getting that the point of a roast is good-natured mockery), and discovers that he now has the ability to turn anyone he touches into Robin Williams, or different incarnations of his various characters. While Peter first enjoys slowly turning all of Quahog into Robin Williams, he wakes up one morning and discovers to his horror that he's accidentally turned Lois into Robin Williams, and in his ensuing panic, transforms the rest of his family as well (with the exception of Stewie, who just dresses up as Robin and pretends to have been transformed). Even suicide can't save him, as any method he tries just turns into another Robin Williams, and Peter ends up ''chopping off his hands'' just to make the nightmare stop.
134	--> '''Stewie''': I guess Disney wouldn't let us do the ''Aladdin'' one.
135	* The episode "Goldfingers" of the animated adaptation of ''ComicBook/{{Iznogoud}}'' revolves around Iznogoud meeting Karat of the Black Mountains, a distant descendant of King Midas. He still carries the curse of his ancestor, but over the course of many generations it has degraded from turning everything into solid gold to merely covering it with a layer of fake gold. Iznogoud tries to get Karat to do this to the Sultan, but in the end Iznogoud himself suffers this fate.
136	* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/OlliversAdventures'', Olliver gains the ability to turn things to chocolate by touching it and saying, "Chocolate, chocolate, my favourite treat, the only thing I'll ever eat." Later on, [[spoiler:he [[PhlebotinumBreakdown loses control]] of it, and anything he touches turns to chocolate [[PowerIncontinence whether he wants it to or not]].]]
137	* The ''WesternAnimation/YogiBear'' episode "Touch and Go-Go-Go" sees Yogi given the ability to turn anything he touches into a pik-a-nik basket, including (by accident) Boo-Boo and Mr. Ranger.
138	* ''WesternAnimation/JayJayTheJetPlane'' has an episode in which Tracy can turn anything she touches into candy. It's AllJustADream, though.
139	* ''WesternAnimation/HerculesTheAnimatedSeries'': "Hercules and the Golden Touch" is a parody of Franchise/JamesBond movies, in which an agent approaches Hercules about stopping Midas from using this ability to accumulate enough wealth to buy Athens outright. However, the agent is actually working for Midas and helping him with a larger plan. Once Herc is subdued and at risk of being turned to gold, Hermes is blackmailed into giving Midas his sandals, which he will then use to turn the entire world into gold. Ultimately, [[PunnyName Marigold]] (the king's daughter) helps free Hercules and foil the plan, but Midas vows he'll just try again. When Marigold tries to reason with him, he thoughtlessly clasps her mouth shut and [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone realizes too late what he's just done to her]]. At the suggestion of Hercules, a reformed Midas sincerely begs [[AncientGrome Bacchus]] to remove the Golden Touch and restore everything to normal, and Bacchus grants this request.
140	-->'''Hermes:''' Y'know, I told Bacchus the whole golden touch thing was a little too out there.
141	[[/folder]]

Context Main / MidasTouch